kinda getting a little tired

I don’t mean to sound like I’m complaining, but I’m getting tired of not quite being done with the film. It’s getting so that I cringe when someone asks me how it’s going and I reply that it’s almost done, and then I realize I told them the same thing a 3 months ago. This film making stuff is so complicated and it takes so loooong. Don’t get me wrong - I love writing, the excitement of getting ready for the shoot , the thrill of being on set, seeing it put together in editing and then finally having it come together in post with music, sound mixing and color correction. But I’m really getting tired of it taking week after week, month after month, to get done. Of course this is what happens when you don’t have studio money, and your thankful for any and everything that people will do. (I am so very thankful!!!)
Please, oh please little film, please be done soon. Please be done in time for me to submit it to the Austin Film Festival. Please be done, so that I can finally stop worrying about it and thinking about it and hoping it will turn out as beautiful as I know it can be. And most importantly, please be done so I can start this crazy, exciting process all over again!!

Picture Lock for Eulogy Maker

Every Sunday for the past two months, my producer Nancy Gresham, and I have sat down in my office for eight to ten hours to edit my short film Eulogy Maker. Since the film is only about five minutes, that means we’ve spent between 10 and 15 hours on editing for each minute. O.K. so there were a few hours in there were we grabbed dinner downstairs, or chatted about wonderful silly girl stuff, but even if it’s on the low side, say 10 hours a minute, that’s still a huge amount of time. But it’s all good! We went through each shot and every bit of footage with a fine tooth comb. We moved scenes around, shaved frames here and there, looked for just the right expression or turn of the head, or which foot is taking a step and then looked through it again. We scrutinized and even agonized over every little thing. Was a cut away necessary or just in because it was a beautiful shot? Should the walking scene go here or there. What about the house shot, what about the pacing? When we had something to show, we would send it to our friends for comments and start all over again the next Sunday.

To put it mildly, editing Eulogy Maker has been an eye opener in efficiency. A shot can be unbelievably beautiful, but if it doesn’t move the story forward, it shouldn’t be in there. Everything must support the story and everything is story. Editing has also been a lesson in tough love. Nothing quite like cutting a cherished shot. (Who knew editing could be so heart breaking! )

So I am happy to announce that I’ve finally reached picture lock. It looks great and I’m thrilled and proud of it. I really love this little film and it’s starting to show through.

NINJA JAMES AND THE BEAST BOY

If you happen to be in Harrisburg, PA, check out the screening of Ninja James and the Beast Boy at the Artsfest Film Festival, Saturday May 29th at 1pm.

Patience

I wish my film was done and ready to be sent out, but it’s not. I’m still editing and even after that, it needs to go back to different folks for titles and credits, color correction, original music and sound editing. I realize now, that I was terribly naive to think that I understood film making enough to complete this one in a few months. I knew I would need a good story(check), talented crew and actors (check, check), beautiful location (check), and commitment to the project (check!), but I didn’t realize it would take so much time and I’d need so much patience! (nada, zip, zilch).

Fortunately though, when I’ve committed to a project, I’m stubborn enough to see it through to the end no matter what. But I’m also really lucky, in that there are folks in my life, that are pulling for me. They are there with words of encouragement to finish this film, to keep on acting and writing, to make more films … They pull me out of the details and show me the big picture.

Thanks!!

Good, Bad and Bitchy

Just can’t seem to get going on my blog these days (or I should say these weeks).

I’m getting a website, biz cards etc with links to this blog and I’m supposed to report happy, cheerful news and blog about how my filmmaking and actress career are going great. But that’s not what I do - I blog about what’s going on in my life, the funny and sad and I throw in some complaining every now and then. It’s who I am and this blog is a very simple extension of … well, me. The good, the bad and the bitchy.

So here is some of all of that:

Bitchy Part : Everything is going in super slow motion. For a person who would rather be traveling at 90 miles an hour, 6 days a week (7^th day is rest ya know), this lack of momentum feels more like suffocation.

Bad Part: I have decided to be selfish and put my needs as a film maker ahead of other family members. Hence the pile of dishes, laundry, still unrepaired crack in the ceiling, unpaid bills and no food in the fridge.

Good Part: Little by little, I am learning and making films. By not allowing frustration to deter my ambitions, I am currently working on three short screenplays, and my last short film is nearing it’s completion date. I’m working with creative, giving, positive people and ultimately I’m grateful to not be dealing with cancer, so that I can hold and play and laugh with my children, and focus on living a creative life.

grrr.

I had planned to shoot my next film in May, but I’m not ready and May is just around the corner. Once again time snuck up on me. I know I’ve been really busy - Making Spring Break plans and submitting Ninja James and the Beast Boy to film festivals, and working with my kids on their projects and driving them places, and working on Eulogy Maker in post and researching cars to replace our old decrepit wheezing ford explorer (plus doing a hell of a lot of daydreaming about making films and acting and working on a set!). But I wasn’t working on my screenplay. Grrr. enough whining, I need to get writing!!!

EULOGY MAKER

Here's the opening shot from my short film Eulogy Maker. The photo is a little stretched, but you get an idea of the look and feel of the film.
I'm really proud of the way it's coming together and I can't wait until it's finished and sent out into the world.
Just a few more weeks of editing...

Copies ready for you!!

Cast and Crew and Everyone who helped in the making of Ninja James and the Beast Boy,

Thank you so much for all of your hard work, effort and patience. We greatly appreciate everything you did to help put this film together!!

We now have copies available for everyone(!!), and they are ready to be picked up or if you're out of town, I can get it to you snail mail.

Let me know (email me or leave a reply here) and I’ll get back with you. J

THANKS!!!!

!!!YEAH!!!

Leslie

NINJA JAMES AND THE BEAST BOY

I’m very super incredibly happy to report that Ninja James and the Best Boy is back on track!! The DVD’s should be available to cast and crew in the next few weeks and I am in the process of submitting it to the film festivals.

Congrats to everyone who contributed to the making of this little film and thank you for your time and patience.

Learning Then and Now

When I was little, learning was often a process of overcoming the difficulty of sitting still long enough, to focus on rather boring material. I enjoyed writing or performing, because those were imaginary wonderful worlds, but facts and figures never stayed concrete for long. Soon equations would start making up their own stories and by the end of the assignment, the numerators were the pompous elitists and didn’t realize that the denominators were plotting to overthrow them. Seven times six equaled 42, which sat under the eves in a rain storm, while Eight was a large medieval ogre that bullied and intimidated the lower numbers. Fortunately the Nines were angels that curved protectively around the others and helped deliver them to the land of Tens. Wonderful strong Tens. The first little numbers that used the buddy system.

Needless to say - I didn’t go far in math and sciences.

Jump ahead by a whole bunch of years, and while I have conquered basic math and can even balance a spreadsheet, I’m learning about a whole new world that is taking my love of make-believe and stories and turning them into images for other. I’m learning how to write and make movies. Not in a formal setting, but in every film I work on, with each screenplay I write, and on each set I’m lucking enough to be on. My material is my life, my teachers are my friends and it’s a school I’ll be enrolled in for the rest of my life.